Great Kings' War

by Roland Green

  "The Temple Archives do not contain any documents regarding Styphon's divine beliefs or revelations at all; in fact, there's a conspicuous lack of normal priestly records of revelations and devotions in the Temple Archives. Other than Styphon's Way, a series of homilies that pass for divine revelation, there appears to be a conspiracy of silence over the whole issue of Styphon's godhood—except when it comes to Styphon's oracle. As I already mentioned, in the Great Temple of Balph resides the other 'miracle' of Styphon's House, Styphon's Great Image"

  Danthor paused and dramatically smacked his lectern for emphasis. "This is no small statue, either; it rises up over three stories and is bathed in enough gold to feed the Five Kingdoms for an entire year! When the Temple faces a problem, the righteous flock to the Great Temple, where the Golden Image, on rare occasions, 'speaks' to the multitude. It's the usual primitive voice amplification with articulated joints at the jaw. The 'secret' of Styphon's Great Image is so well guarded that only the head of the Temple and the highpriests who rule the Great Temple and all its worldly possessions know that it's a fraud.

  "Styphon's Own Voice is the head of the Styphon's House and is presumed—like the Pope on most Europo-American time-lines—to speak for their god and rule the Temple. In actuality, Styphon's Voice is typically a figurehead chosen to represent the interests of the Inner Circle of Archpriests, a closely connected group of thirty-six Archpriests which includes the highpriest of each Great Kingdom High Temples of Styphon."

  Dras turned to the visiscreen and they were shown the innermost chamber of the Great Temple where a dozen yellow-robed Archpriests were surrounded by kneeling pensioners and penitents. "Only on rare occasions will Styphon's Own Image will speak to the multitude. These believers are attending the great idol in the hopes that Styphon's Golden Image will speak and answer their questions—believe me, they pay a lot for the privilege of waiting.

  "The current Styphon's Own Voice, His Divinity Sesklos, was an activist until the past year when Lord Kalvan's rapid military successes discredited his leadership." The visiscreen showed a wizened old man with a beaked nose and ice-gray eyes dressed in a red robe. "For the past decade, Sesklos has been promoting his handpicked successor, Archpriest Anaxthenes who has now emerged as Speaker and the dominant member of the Inner Circle. On the Kalvan Control time-lines it is presumed that Anaxthenes will follow Sesklos as Styphon's Voice.

  "One of the true believers, Archpriest Roxthar, has attracted our attention because he's become a pivotal player within the Inner Circle on Kalvan's Time-Line. However, this is not the case on the Kalvan Control time-lines where Roxthar is viewed as a crackpot by the other Archpriests of the Inner Circle and his harangues on Styphon's Divinity are greeted with derision. Only on Kalvan's Time-Line has Archpriest Roxthar become one of the major power centers or created his Office of Holy Investigation, to seek out Kalvan fostered heresy within Styphon's House. Thus, it is now evident that Archpriest Roxthar's rise on Kalvan's Time-Line is a direct response to the threat Kalvan poses to Temple's continued existence."

  A beefy professor with a red face shouted: "Next you'll be telling us you are a supporter of the Great Man in History theory!"

  Danthor cocked his head, ran his fingers through his hair, looking thoughtful. "It's still too soon to draw any definitive conclusion, but I will admit the evidence is pointing in that direction."

  Sirna couldn't have been more surprised if the Scholar had admitted to friendship with Verkan Vall, membership in the Management Party or relations with a barnyard animal! The red faced professor and the rest of the audience were shocked into silence. Was what she was witnessing possible—a tenured University Professor rising above his prejudices and the group consensus of the Dhergabar herd?

  Danthor acted as if the interruption had not occurred, continuing on with his talk. "Now before we get any further into Styphon's divinity, let me inform you that Styphon and his prime competitors—Dralm, Galzar and Yirtta—are not the only gods on Aryan Transpacific, Styphon's House Subsector. The original Indo-Aryan invaders, who called themselves the 'Zarthani,' a contraction of 'za-aryan-thani' meaning in their language 'the noble people,' brought with them some twenty-five to thirty gods and goddesses. Many of these 'original' deities have since disappeared from popular consciousness as their worshippers have declined and are now remembered only in curses, old sagas, legends and yarns. These days there are only twelve True Gods and four Demons—five if you count Styphon as a Demon as many of Dralm's worshippers do. Although some of the so-called True Gods, like Phydros, God of Wine and Music, and Lytris, the Weather Goddess who is worshipped primarily by sailors, have a small or select constituency.

  "As I mentioned previously, the primary Trinity—before Styphon's prominence—was Allfather Dralm, Yirtta Allmother and Galzar Wolfshead, the God of War. Dralm is the all-knowing, all-powerful Father god, like Zeus, Jupiter and a host of others familiar to most Fourth Level Indo-Aryan scholars."

  Heads bobbed up and down in agreement.

  "Yirtta is the goddess of harvests and fertility and as such she has maintained her prominence within Zarthani life and ritual, primarily among women who are more conservative about their gods. The Temple of Yirtta Allmother is a very traditional and conservative temple, similar in many aspects to the Roman goddess Vesta and her cult.

  "Galzar God of War has seen no diminution of status with the passage of time; if anything, as Dralm's influence has waned, Galzar—with the constant internecine warfare and proliferation of mercenary units—has grown over the years. The Uncle Wolfs, the priest of Galzar, have even taken over many of the healing duties of older gods, including Styphon.

  "Dralm's position among the gods has dropped dramatically, particularly, within the last hundred years, as Styphon's influence has increased in the Northern Kingdoms, principally among the gentry and the upper classes. The Styphoni do not consider Appalon, Dralm's son, the Patron of gamblers and gaming, a True God. Whereas the followers of Dralm add Lyklos, the Trickster, who has a powerful cult in the Middle Kingdoms, to their pantheon instead of Styphon.

  "As Styphon's House's political and economic power grows, the worship of Styphon has spread its way through the upper strata of society, whereas Dralm is in danger of becoming almost exclusively the god of peasants and artisans. Styphon's House with its tithing and manure collection continues to be unpopular among the lower classes, except in Hos-Ktemnos where his worship is firmly rooted after four hundred years of priestly tyranny.

  "As I've demonstrated, Styphon's House has used their 'fireseed' miracle to awe the unsophisticated and manipulate the politics of the Five Kingdoms, the dominant ruling states on Aryan Transpacific. Furthermore, Styphon's House has its own military of which there are two arms; the first being Styphon's Own Guard. The Guard is an elite corps and very well paid; most are former mercenaries and are not above doing the nastiest kind of deeds. Often times, they are poised behind unreliable troops with the orders to execute anyone who retreats or runs from battle. They've earned the sobriquet the Red Hand through their scrupulous attention to such orders.

  "The second martial arm is the Order of the Zarthani Knights, who protect the western borders of Hos-Bletha and Hos-Ktemnos, as well as act as a buffer between the Five Kingdoms and the Sastragath and migrating nomads from the Sea of Grass. The Grand Master of the Order is also an Archpriest in the Inner Circle, but like most military holy orders they have little participation in the day to day running of the Temple. The Zarthani Knights are a formidable fighting force and the Grand Master rules more territory than the largest Great Kingdom.

  "Styphon's House's usual tactics are to encourage grudges and border disputes among the princedoms of the Five Kingdoms, helping allied princes with ample supplies of fireseed, while withholding it from their opponents and placing them under Styphon's Ban. The Ban is a very important tool since it not only deprives that princedom under the Ban from purchasing fireseed from Styphon's House, but also carries the threat of withholding fir
eseed to any other lord or prince who might be willing to sell his excess powder to the proscribed lord. Without any other recourse to obtain fireseed for their smoothbores and guns, the opponents of Styphoni supported armies are quickly dispatched. It's been a very successful policy throughout Styphon's House Subsector, except on one time-line—Kalvan Prime.

  "From all reports, with Lord Kalvan, Styphon's House ran up against someone from the outside who knew the Fireseed Mystery and was not cowed by their wealth or military might. Kalvan is the former Calvin Morrison, a Pennsylvania State Policeman, who was picked up as a transtemporal 'hitchhiker' on a Fourth Level Europo-American time-line far advanced over Aryan Transpacific, both socially and technologically."

  There were snickers from the audience as they all were familiar with Hispano Colombian. The dominant culture there was socially backward, but also explosively creative and technologically innovative. Lately, the latest Hispano-Colombian music crazes and flat screen movies had become very popular with the masses on First Level—especially the proles.

  "This Pennsylvania State trooper, after an interpenetration foul-up with another transtemporal conveyor, was able to subdue his Paratime Police host and was dislodged from the conveyor onto Styphon's House Subsector."

  There was a murmur of appreciation for his feat. While most University professionals disliked the Paratime Police and their over-zealous regulations concerning outtime travel, they did appreciate their physical training and abilities.

  Scholar Danthor stepped back from the podium and a 3-D image of a lanky Paratime Policeman in his green uniform seated in front of a table appeared on the visiscreen. "Here is a recent interview of Araln Folen, the Paratime Policeman who picked up Calvin Morrison and was being prepared for broadcast on the Dhergabar morning news show, Newsworthy. This has never been released for public viewing."

  Sirna wondered how Danthor was able to access internal Paratime Police documents. What would Paratime Police Chief Verkan do if he knew?

  The familiar voice of Yandar Yadd filled the hall. "So, Officer Araln, what were the circumstances of your unexpected pick-up of Calvin Morrison?"

  Araln looked sheepishly into the recording lens. "I had finished making a standard pick up on Europo-American, Confederate States Subsector, and was returning to Fifth Level Police Terminal when my conveyor merged transtemporal fields with another conveyor on an unscheduled jaunt to Third Level."

  "Then what happened?"

  "When the two fields juxtaposed there was a opening created in the transtemporal field—"

  "Hold on a minute, Officer Araln, not all of our listeners are familiar with Paratemporal jargon. Just what is an opening in the time field?"

  Using his hands, Araln continued, "When two conveyors pass the same spot their fields try to occupy the same time/space continuum," he paused to inter-twine his fingers. "This creates a transtemporal void, or opening. Any objects and/or lifeforms, including humans, that are in the immediate vicinity can be 'accidentally' picked up and deposited into one of the interpenetrating conveyors. This is what happened with State Trooper Morrison. Now you understand," continued Officer Araln, suddenly animated, "sometimes when two fields meet head-on there are a lot of collateral effects—the reactor engines, electronics, control panels, visiscreens get jumbled filling the conveyor with light displays and noise, so I wasn't even aware Morrison was there until he got the jump on me. I tried to shoot him with my needler, but he's fast—very fast. Instead, I ended up taking a slug to the shoulder."

  Araln winced, and rubbed his shoulder. "Next thing I remember was I was back at Police Terminal Fifth Level with a medic giving me emergency treatment. I understand Morrison's drop on Aryan Transpacific has caused quite a fracas there, but I don't remember anything after he shot me. Just a shadowy gray figure and BAM! That's it."

  "What's going on here, Yadd!" asked a familiar voice off-screen, which Sirna recognized as belonging to Paratime Chief Verkan Vall.

  There were some hisses and catcalls from the audience.

  "I'm just exercising my rights to question Officer Araln for a segment of Newsworthy."

  Verkan's not-so-happy countenance appeared on the screen. He was a tall man with a rangy body. He was wearing his Paratime Police Chief's green uniform and a Vandyke beard. "Yadd, you know full well this is a Police Internal Investigation and I'm going to have to confiscate that recording."

  There was a string of Second Level curses from Yadd; a sudden yelp of pain and then the shot rotated showing a scowling Verkan Vall and the newsie being marched off-screen in a come-along hold by a big Paracop.

  The visiscreen went blank. Danthor turned back to face the audience with a smirk on his face.

  "I doubt very many of us," Dras continued, "would have reacted quite so decisively as State Trooper Morrison in an unexpected, strange and even frightening new environment. That he reacted as quickly and decisively as he did is a testimony both to his quick reflexes and training from the Pennsylvania State Police, which is one of the finer constabularies on that particular Europo-American Subsector.

  "When Calvin Morrison dropped off the conveyor, he managed to land himself smack right in the middle of a war between the small Princedom of Hostigos and several of its neighbors, encouraged by Styphon's House, who wanted ownership of a sulfur spring on Hostigos territory—sulfur being one of the compounds that makes up the Fireseed Trinity. On Kalvan's first day, with the help of some locals, he managed to fight off a small sortie from one of Hostigos' enemies and won the love of the local princess."

  Someone in the audience let out a whistle of appreciation.

  "You do have to keep in mind that while this Fourth-Level policeman was certainly quick on the uptake, he also arrived at a point in time on Styphon's House Subsector where social and political events were coming to a head. That he was able to exploit them so quickly lends credence to Kalvan's initiative and survival skills. However, I do believe that certain personages in the Paratime Police and media have prematurely awarded a mantle of brilliance and superiority to Lord Kalvan, as he is called, that has yet to be earned. His superior knowledge of military tactics and technology is nothing remarkable coming from a man transplanted from a highly industrialized time-line and suddenly tossed onto a pre-industrial time-line.

  "What is unusual was how quickly Kalvan realized that he was cast adrift in a 'world' not his own and how swiftly he responded to the situation he was thrown into. His successes in besieging Tarr-Dombra, an important border castle with neighboring Nostor, and defeating Styphon's forces at the battles of Fitra and Fyk demonstrate Kalvan's resourcefulness and military leadership abilities. So far his successes have been those of a second-class man triumphing over third class opponents."

  There was a sigh of relief in the auditorium. Maybe Danthor wasn't a proponent of the Great Man in History theory after all, thought Sirna, nor of the University approved view of history as a course molded by vast, impersonal forces and Historical Inevitability. Could it be that Danthor Dras was that rarity, a scholar who believed in letting the evidence stand on its own?

  "The true test is yet ahead now that Styphon's House is awakened and is assembling a great army of their own, the Holy Host. Kalvan has awakened the sleeping giant and is about to get mauled. If he is truly the Great Man of his era, he has met his equal and accordingly, for the first time, we will be able to actually see a test, from the moment of divarication, of the Great Man in History Theory, and whether they truly make events happen, or are simply chosen to act out grander social impulses.

  "Winning a few battles will not answer the question. Only a total victory over Styphon's House will be acceptable and that is yet to be seen. Let us see if Lord Kalvan—actually Great King Kalvan now—can decisively and profoundly change Kalvan's Time-Line—in comparison to the Kalvan Controls—before we pronounce him in the University and media as Kalvan the Great!"

  There was a round of applause from the crowd. Danthor preened before the cameras and did everything but
bow.

  "The Kalvan Study Teams have their work cut out for them, but I am convinced that with my oversight the Study Teams will be able to find the answers to this question and other profound social issues. I will be joining the Balph Study Team on Kalvan's Time-Line from the Styphon's House Subsector time-line where I've been doing my previous research. My agents have laid the groundwork on Kalvan's Time-Line for a 'transfer' from Hos-Bletha to the Holy City of Balph where I plan to work in the Archives. Within a few years, I should be able to scale the hierarchy from Highpriest to Archpriest of the Inner Circle. My intimate knowledge of their personalities and peccadilloes from the neighboring time-line should aid in my progress.

  "As head of the Aryan-Transpacific Academic Oversight Committee I will be in contact with the Hostigos and Harphax Kalvan Study Teams as time and events allow. Thank you all for attending and there will be further updates as we make our findings public." Dras waved his hand to indicate the lecture was at an end. Sirna had seen 3-Ds of Ptolemaic emperors with less panache!

  Sirna marveled at her good fortune. She would not only be a member of the most coveted study team in University history, but also be there on Kalvan's Time-Line watching history in the making. Maybe in some small way she could be a part of that history.

  As Danthor Dras began to pick up his materials and the audience began to leave, Sirna felt someone slip into the seat next to her. She had to repress her startle reflex when she recognized Hadron Tharn. Something about the cold way he eyed her made her feel like a cold piece of meat. Tharn himself was tall, with regular features, except for a sharp jaw that reminded her of a sturgeon's, and not the least bit physically domineering—until you looked into his eyes. They were the cold measuring eyes of a predator, one who feasted on human weakness.